Sardar Patel communal in Nehru's view, says Advani

Advani’s comment is expected to generate more political heat ahead of elections as the BJP has been targeting the Congress for only projecting the Nehru-Gandhi family as freedom fighter icons, ignoring the contribution of others like Sardar Patel.

(DeccanHerald)


Giving another twist to the controversy over Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s legacy, BJP patriarch L K Advani on Tuesday blogged that the country’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, had accused Patel of being a “total communalist” when he suggested that police action be taken against Hyderabad’s Nizam, who wanted to accede to Pakistan after independence.

Advani, attributing his comment to a book, “The Story of an Era Told without Ill Will,” authored by M K K Nair, an IAS officer of the 1947 batch, refers to “sharp exchanges” between the two during a cabinet meeting sometime in 1948. Both had different takes on “police action” against the Nizam, whose officials also unleashed atrocities on locals.

The Congress hit back at Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s attempt to what they called “usurping Patel legacy.” The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate had started the process of building the tallest ever statue of the Iron Man. The Congress also attacked Modi on the grounds that Patel did not conform to the Hindutva ideology or communal agenda.